Here is my corresponding GitHub issue to track the progress, discussions or changes/commits made in regards to this proposal: https://github.com/genodelabs/genode/issues/5303
I propose that Genode adopts Markdown instead of GOSH.
Markdown has become the standard format for nearly all Open Source projects and Git hosting sites. GitHub, GitLab, Gitea and Codeberg/Forgejo all use Markdown, none support GOSH format.
I can read Markdown in GitHub repositories using my Android phone with the GitHub app. I cannot read GOSH files on a phone or tablet. This makes it harder to read correctly rendered GOSH files compared to Markdown. If I want to read a rendered GOSH document(not in plain text), I must clone the Genode & GOSH repo, install GOSH & TCL/TK, export the GOSH files to HTML or LaTeX from the command line, then view in PDF or HTML viewer. This is not simple compared to Markdown which is rendered natively on almost any device.
FOSS is a collaborative community. To make an open source project successful, It is important to use common formats and tools so the community can collaborate easily. The higher the barrier to entry, the less likely it is for people to bother contributing.
Switching to Markdown does not lose the benefits of LaTeX. The Git hosting sites as listed above, support inline LaTeX rendering within Markdown documents for mathematical expressions and diagrams. Markdown is used on these Git hosting sites for writing documentation, wiki, comments, issues, README, blogs and web pages etc.
Having an appealing looking GitHub repository is important as it could be the first time a user encounters the project, thus setting their first impressions. If using GOSH, which isn't rendered correctly, they may not decide to look further into the project as it looks unappealing. Most users won't try to learn or use GOSH because it is not a portable skill or format outside of the Genode projects.
I would be happy to contribute by working on converting GOSH files to Markdown format. I have already converted all 9 README files of the 9 public Genodelabs GitHub repositories to Markdown. I could continue doing this. However I don't want to waste my time doing something that wouldn't be accepted by the Genode project.
There is an automatic way to convert all the GOSH documents to Markdown.
First, export GOSH documents to HTML or LaTeX. Then use a HTML or LaTeX to Markdown converter, then it will be automatically written to native Markdown. Thus saving manual labour.
These tools can be used to convert from HTML to Markdown format automatically:
https://github.com/jgm/pandoc (This one can convert from LaTeX or HTML to Markdown) https://github.com/showdownjs/showdown https://github.com/mixmark-io/turndown